WHAT IS HUMAN NATURE - Biblical Studies by Bill Pack
WHAT IS HUMAN NATURE?
and
What to Do about It
Throughout its pages, the scriptures take a dim view of human nature. Rampant human nature was the reason God sent a worldwide flood,
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually….The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:5,11).
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Mtt. 15:19). The apostle Paul stated, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Rom. 7:18). So what is human nature? It is evil in the human heart that is expressed outwardly in a multitude of ways. It is the antithesis of God’s nature, the way of goodness, kindness, and love.
People have always known about human nature. In a natural world, men knew that the basest impulses of human nature could only be reigned in, shackled, through laws and deterrent punishment. Did those means ever change any human hearts for the better? Let’s understand. Jesus and his disciples were accused by the scribes and Pharisees for not obeying the Jewish laws which required the washing of hands and dishes before eating. His response was to say,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Mtt. 23:25,26).
The human heart—the inside of the dish—can never be cleansed from the outside by laws and punishment, or any social pressure, ever! This is what today’s “social justice warriors” fail to understand. The founding fathers of America, many of whom were men of faith, therefore had a clear understanding of human nature. The framers of the U.S. Constitution included so-called “checks and balances” for the express purpose of reigning in and shackling human nature, in an effort to protect the new republic from the same.
As was mentioned earlier, human nature has always been around, identified, and dealt with in varying ways. All those ways have always and only dealt with cleaning the outside of the dish, except one, which we will examine later. But first, let’s look at a relatively recent way men have chosen to deal with human nature, a secular way, and see how it has evolved. I am going to label this attempt with the commonly known name progressivism, which means support for or advocacy of social reform. The idea is that man will or must progress from barbarism toward civilization, and takes the form of combating poverty, violence, greed, racism, class warfare, et al. You may denote a Darwinian flavor, and indeed one of the early branches of this movement was called Social Darwinism.
Christians who joined the fight in the early twentieth century labeled their movement Social Gospel. But progressivism has evolved so that today many simply refer to it as Social Justice, although that is by no means a new term, since it was first coined by Catholic thinkers in the 1840’s. And its combatants are known as social justice warriors. Originally, progressivism was primarily interested in economic justice—easing the disparity between rich and poor—a noble and godly cause. But it was the way it went about it that was objectionable, because equal distribution of wealth was introduced, which then led to socialism and Communism, which in turn led to the deaths of scores of millions of people. Think about it. If the state confiscates the wealth of the rich and greedy and redistributes it to the poor, does that get rid of the greed in the rich man’s heart? No, only the outside of the dish has been cleaned. Of course the poor are helped, but at the risk of dependency and indolence.
Deuteronomy 15:11 says, “For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and to your needy, in your land.’” It is a Christian duty to help the poor, and when one performs that act of love it reflects a changed heart and nature. But when the state takes a person’s wealth and gives it to the poor, that is just stealing by another name. Human nature remains unchanged!
Today’s social justice warriors seem to be waging a never-ending battle against bigotry, racism and misogyny. All the laws, the PC police, and public shaming are not going to change the human heart. Another battle being fought comes under the well-meaning banner of tolerance and inclusivity, which is code for homosexuality and transgenderism. Tolerating perversion is not progress! But beware Christians, intolerance of sin must never take the form of bigotry. It must be benign and sprinkled with kindness. To conclude concerning progressivism, it has not brought about improvement in the human heart, but rather continues only to clean the outside of the dish.
Have you ever noticed how many of those who are in the public eye respond when they are caught in some miss-conduct or have spewed some hateful words? It usually goes something like this: That’s not me, or, That’s not who I am. The truth is, these people have human nature, and in a moment of unrestraint that nature was unleashed and revealed in all its vileness. Jesus said, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mtt. 12:34). Bad actions and words are not a mistake, because they simply reveal what was always inside a person’s heart. That is why spiteful words hurled during a marital spat can never truly be taken back, because they reveal a person’s true nature.
Perhaps some of what this article has covered belongs in the realm of political or social science, but I have striven to weave a biblical theme throughout. The point is no political or social movement ever has or ever will improve the human heart. At best it can only restrain and shackle the evils of human nature. Now let’s examine the only effective way to conquer human nature—clean the inside of the dish.
Long ago God predicted that one day He would change human nature, an accomplishment that could only come through His divine power. Through the prophet Jeremiah He prophesied, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you…I will put my Spirit within you” (Ezek. 36:25-27). The water and the Spirit. Centuries later God in Christ expanded His message. The first recorded teaching of Jesus was at the Passover, when he revealed to Nicodemas,
“…Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God….Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:3,5-8).
Here is the antidote for human nature. One must be born again with another nature, a new nature. The scriptures teach that following repentance, a person is baptized, immersed in water, which symbolizes the death and burial of the sinful “old man” (Col 2:12). Coming up out of the waters, a “new man” arises, born again of water (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:23,24; Rom. 6:4). Born again of water is deeply symbolic; it is a beautiful, inspiring analogy of re-birth.
Being born again of the Spirit is neither symbolic nor analogous. It is not an abstract, it is real, actual, and literal! A new creation, a new birth actually occurs. But it is not visible to human eyes like in a hospital delivery room, because it involves the Spirit, which cannot be seen. As Jesus said, it is like the “wind,” which is invisible. That is why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation” (Lk. 17:20). The kingdom of God is invisible because it consists of spiritually reborn people who began their new life as infants. The apostle Peter wrote, You are “newborn babes, [who] desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).
How is one born of the Spirit? The scriptures teach that following water baptism, hands are laid on the person, whereby God imparts His Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-18; 19:5,6; II Tim. 1:6). A spiritual re-birth occurs at that time, and the person becomes a son or daughter of God! Through the Holy Spirit we become “partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4). We have seen what human nature is capable of, but what can the divine nature accomplish in a person’s life? The apostle Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… (Gal. 5:22,23).
Paul wrote, “…the inward man is renewed day by day” (II Cor. 4:16). How? Let’s read Paul’s answer,
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from who the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19).
Through the Holy Spirit, which is Christ living inside us, the inner man is filled with the fullness of God—His nature. This is the answer for human nature. This is how to clean the inside of the dish!
Tease:
Throughout its pages, the scriptures take a dim view of human nature. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). What is human nature? And can anything be done about it?
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